The flu bug is bad this year, but it seems that countless thousands of Americans are treating it with sugar pills. The product below is being sold by big brand pharmacies and there is nothing in it but sugar. When I saw this infographic from the Questionist.com I laughed. It’s diluted to 10^-400 ! Just to give you an idea of how small that is, there are only 10⁷⁸ atoms in the universe!! There is not one molecule of active ingredient in this flu remedy.

 

I thought at first that few people would be fooled into buying this stuff, but was shocked to find out that it’s sold out just about everywhere. I posted a warning on my social media pages and was immediately inundated with people telling me it works great.

Really? Sugar pills?

If I get the flu, I’ll get a box of Bon Bon’s. More sugar, cheaper, and it tastes better. No, the bon bon’s won’t help the flu symptoms, but neither will the above. Oh, and I’ll see my doc for some antiviral meds.

Seriously though, the public does not understand the placebo effect or confirmation bias and when they naturally get better in a few days, they think the sugar pills worked. The placebo effect and confirmation bias are powerful, and this is the price we pay for a culture that does not value science or science education. You can throw money into science education, but fixing a cultural issue is far more challenging.

So, here we are in 2018 and thousands of people are throwing 25-30$ away on sugar pills. I feel sorry for them, but I reserve my greatest scorn for the pharmacies that are selling it. They should be ashamed.

NOTE:
Last night, I discovered that a class action lawsuit has now been filed against the makers of this product so it may not be in any pharmacy much longer.

Another popular home remedy seems to be something called Elderberry, and before you buy that, you should probably read this. If you know someone with the flu bug, urge them to see their doctor. Antivirals can help in many cases.